This blog provides observations, suggestions, and instructions for using technology for genealogy. I'm a working technical writer and I use these tools daily.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Highlighting Text in a PDF

In addition to Adding a Note to a PDF, you can add highlights to call attention to text in a PDF. The process is similar to adding a note.

To add highlights to text:

Open a PDF, and find a line you want to highlight.

Click the Comment button to open the Annotations pane.

Click the Highlight Text option in the Annotation pane. Your cursor changes from an arrow to an I beam.

Hold down your left mouse button and run your cursor over the text you want to highlight.

Let go of your mouse button at the end of the text you want to highlight.

Look for notation for the highlight in the Annotations pane.

If you make a mistake while highlighting, use the undo (Ctrl + Z) to remove it and try again. You can also use the undo key combo if you add a note by mistake and want to remove it.

You can use the highlight in combination with notes, or you can use them separately. All notes and highlights appear in the Comments List of the Annotations pane. Each entry in the pane is a link. In a long PDF, you can click a note or highlight to scroll to that place in the PDF.

When adding notes or highlights, I've had you click the Comment button to open the Annotations pane. However, you should also notice that there are buttons for Notes and Highlight on the toolbar.

When you click the Sticky Note or Highlight Text option in the Annotations pane, the Notes and Highlight buttons in the toolbar are also selected. If you just want to add notes and highlights without displaying the Annotations pane, you can use the buttons. The main reason for knowing about the Annotation pane is that you can use it for quick navigation and to do several other tasks, including replying to notes or highlights...as in collaboration.